The global crisis in the supply chain, added to lower inputs, has been affecting the paper industry. In the case of Peru, the importation of toilet paperboth in value and volume, registered a reduction in the last quarter of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, as reported by the Institute for Research and Development of Foreign Trade of the Lima Chamber of Commerce (Idexcam).
Thus, between October and December 2021, the imported value of toilet paper totaled US$4.1 million, which represents a reduction of 55% compared to the same period in 2020; In terms of volume, more than 3 million tons were registered, 65% less than the same period in 2020.
For this line of products, which also includes wipes to remove make-up, napkins or similar paper for domestic and hygiene use; the supplier countries that decreased their shipments were Indonesia (-80%), Brazil (-73%) and Vietnam (-100%).
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Similarly, Peruvian imports of baby diapers they decreased by 41% in volume with 2.6 million tons registered. As for the value, this fell by 29%, adding a total of US$ 9.1 million. The supplier countries affected were China (-32%), Chile (-31%) and Colombia (-72%).
“The reduction in imports of these products is explained by the fact that these supplying countries, mostly from Southeast Asia, still have operational problems in their ports”, stated the head of Idexcam, Óscar Quiñones.
The institute added that, due to this problem, the cost of paper has also increased in the international market, causing companies in the sector to reduce their purchases in different product lines in the sector.
An example of this has been the cardboard paper, whose imported volume and value decreased by 39% and 14%, respectively. Precisely in this analysis period, 2.7 tons of cardboard were purchased for US$ 2.4 million. Among the supplier countries affected are the United States (-98%), France (-99%) and South Africa (-76%).
Also, the importation of self copy paper registered a 35% drop in volume and 27% in value, after acquiring more than 900,000 tons for more than US$ 1.5 million. The supplier countries of this product affected with lower shipments were China (-31%) and Brazil (-41%).
Idexcam warned that Peruvian imports of paper and cardboard could also register a lower performance in the first months of 2022, considering the celebrations for the Chinese New Year and the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which took place on the 1st and 4th. February, respectively.
“For these reasons, interruptions are expected in the production areas and cargo dispatches, which in recent weeks has brought greater congestion in the main port terminals of these countries.”, noted Óscar Quiñones.
